The epic drama series “Shogun,” based on the 1975’s James Clavell novel of the same name, will premiere on February 27th. The series will air on FX weekly, while also being available for streaming on Hulu and Disney+ (via the Hulu hub).
According to the press release, the show is described as “an epic saga of war, passion, and power set in Feudal Japan.” The series is set in Japan in the year 1600, at the dawn of the civil war that defined the century.
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The story will center in three characters: Yoshii Toranaga (Hiroyuki Sanada), who is fighting for his life after his enemies on the Council of Regents unite against him; British sailor John Blackthorne, who ends up shipwrecked in Japan; and Lady Mariko, a mysterious female samurai.
Is Shogun based on a real story?
Clavell’s novel is a fictionalized version of real historical events. For example, the main character, Blackthorne, is inspired by the real-life English navigator William Adams. Adams, when he was in Japan, became a samurai under Tokugawa Ieyasu, whom the character Toranaga is based on.
Sanada not only stars as Toranaga, he also produced the series. Meanwhile, Cosmo Jarvis (Persuasion, Lady Macbeth, It Is In Us All) portrays Blackthorne. Anna Sawai, known for playing the role of Naomi in the Apple TV+ drama series Pachinko, will play Toda Mariko.
Anna Sawai in ‘Shogun’ (IMDb)
The rest of the cast also includes Tadanobu Asano, Fumi Nikaido, Tokuma Nishioka and Takehiro Hira. The series was executive produced by Justin Marks, who also wrote the scripts alongside his wife, supervising producer Rachel Kondo.
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The series was filmed in Vancouver, the United Kingdom, and Japan from September 2021 to June 2022. The series will have 10 episodes which will be released weekly, and a first trailer was released back in November. Check it out:
